During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were both interested in becoming the most powerful country in the world. One of the main ways in which they wanted to achieve this was by winning an "arms race." This is a type of competition. An arms race refers to a situation in which each country is trying to have more military power (particularly in terms of the number and sophistication of their weapons) than the other one. This was particularly dangerous due to the recent development of nuclear weapons.
It would be the job of the "c. the president of the United States" to uphold the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution, since this ensures the power of the federal government over the states.
